Wawa and Beyond

Yesterday we left the Wawa area, but not before seeing more of the town. It's a charming town of 3700 people situated on the west end of Wawa Lake.

The word Wawa means goose in the native Ojibway language. So it's appropriate that they have a very large goose to welcome the visitors. This is the new version made of steel. The original one of plaster didn't hold up to the elements. We also noticed the goose lost some weight between versions. Reminds me of the way the Pillsbury Dough Boy slimed down since I was young.

Although everyone refers to it as the Wawa Goose, Ron pointed out that is redundant.


There were lots of gorgeous lakes in the area, but we didn't have the nicest weather. This is the best I could do.


We found these old timers sitting on the porch of the general store. Some things never change.


The community center had a lovely project this summer called 'Grandma Doors.' We have no idea where they got all the doors, but kids and adults painted them to honor their grandmothers. The doors ranged from the primitive. . .


to the expert, but all were charming.


I wanted to photoshop Sally's face on this one, but I don't know how.


Here I'm trying to horn in on the project. You can just see me peeking through the window.


We're now in Marathon at an RV park, but on our way here we passed through White River which is where the bear who inspired Winnie the Pooh was from.

Now, I know what you're thinking - Winnie the Pooh was British. At least that's what I always thought. Well, this story rivals the one about Ole RIP in a previous post. It seems in 1914, a lieutenant in the Canadian Army Veterinary Corps purchased a black bear cub in White River while enroute overseas. (Why you may ask? I certainly did.) Anyway he named the bear Winnie after his home town of Winnipeg. When the lieutenant was sent to France, he had the good sense to leave her with the London Zoo, temporarily at first, but later he gave her to the zoo permanently. Winnie was very gentle and would allow the children to pet and feed her. Two of her greatest fans were Christopher and his father A.A. Milne who was inspired to immortalize her as Winnie the Pooh.